NIAGARA FALLS, NY – For the first time since the 1997, the Iona College baseball program picked up a victory in the MAAC Baseball Championship by upending No. 5 Manhattan 5-1 in game two of the double-elimination tournament. In the final game of the evening, the fourth seeded Gaels (22-25) fell 12-1 to top seed Fairfield.
The 5-1 win against the Jaspers in the opening game for the Maroon & Gold was the first win in the MAAC Championship for Iona since 1997 when the program defeated Niagara, 9-5, and Siena, 11-2, at Heritage Park in Colonie, NY.
Game One
The Gaels opened the scoring against Manhattan in the third inning with a run on no hits. Matt Byrne opened the frame with a full count walk and advanced to second after Tyler Bruno was hit by a pitch. The second walk of the inning to Seth Hoagland loaded the bases for Brian Picone. The freshman outfielder drove in Byrne for the first run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Following a scoreless fourth, Byrne once again spearheaded the Iona offense in the bottom half of the fifth. The senior infielder drove the first pitch he saw with one out in the bottom of the inning just over the left field fence to push the advantage to 2-0. Lou Matarazzo added a RBI single in the sixth inning, scoring Picone to give Iona a 3-0 lead.
The Jaspers gained one run back in the top of the seventh as Matt Forlow scored on a groundout after doubling to left field to lead off the inning. However, the Maroon & Gold answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh in support of starter Bill Maier.
Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Byrne posted his second hit of the game with a double to right field and moved up to third base following a Bruno bunt. Two batters later, Fran Kinsey singled in Byrne before Bruno scored the fifth run of the game on a wild pitch.
Maier utilized his run support and efficient pitch count throughout the contest to earn the complete game victory, his second complete game of his career. The senior scattered seven hits throughout the nine innings of work, striking out five with one earned run and one walk allowed.
Offensively, Byrne tallied two of the team's six hits as well as one of four individuals to notch a RBI while adding three runs scored. Meanwhile, Sean Breen added two walks.
Game Two
The top seeded Stags scored five runs in the first three innings and later added six runs in the sixth inning to open the margin to 11-1 after six innings played.
Fairfield needed just nine hits in the game to produce the 12-1 victory, taking advantage of nine walks. Jack Gethings paced the group with two hits and two RBI while Drew Arciuolo scored three times while adding a hit and a RBI with a pair of walks.
John Signore helped keep the Gaels away from a rally by tossing 7.2 innings of work with nine strikeouts and just three hits allowed. Singnore kept Iona hitless throughout the first six innings before Byrne doubled to left center with one out in the seventh.
Following the double from Byrne in the seventh, Iona used two hits in the eighth to push across the lone run of the game. Joe DeMaio led off the inning with a pinch-hit triple to center field and scored in the next at-bat as Sean Scales singled to right field.
In the effort for the Gaels, Mario Ferraioli logged 4.1 innings of relief work with two strikeouts.
Up Next
With the setback against Fairfield, the Gaels move on to game six of the MAAC Championship scheduled for a 7:00 pm start on Thursday at Sal Maglie Stadium. The Maroon & Gold are set to face the winner of game 5 of the tournament between Manhattan and Rider. The Jaspers and Broncs are scheduled for a 3:30 pm start on Thursday.
